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The Book of the Diner is well worth preserving. I only wish it had reached a broader audience when it might have mattered more. That is a testament to the blindness of our culture. If there is a future to look back from, one difficult question historians will have to ask is how we let this happen, when so many saw it coming. This site has certainly aggregated enough information and critical thinking to prove that.[/b]

A five-year strategic cooperation plan was agreed on Friday between Moscow and Tehran during the visit by co-chair of the Russia-Iran Joint Economic Commission Mahmoud Vaezi’s to the Russian capital.

The sides signed a contract for the construction of a power station in Iran's Hormozgan province. The power plant’s four generators will have a 1,400 megawatt capacity. Moscow has already approved a €2.2 billion loan for infrastructure projects in the Iran, including the construction of the power station.

During the meeting with Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak, Vaezi said Tehran plans new energy contracts with Russia in the near future. According to him, in two or three months Iran will reach its pre-sanctions oil output level of four million barrels a day. Vaezi added that the country has already regained 80 percent of the market share it held before the US and EU imposed sanctions on its oil industry in 2012.

Novak told the minister that almost all Russian oil and gas companies have shown an interest in energy exploration and production projects in Iran.

Gazprom is interested in developing Iranian gas supply and production, said the energy minister.

Russia's Lukoil wants to resume cooperation in the Anaran oil project which it had to abandon in 2010 due to Western sanctions against Iran.

Following the meeting, the Russian energy minister said a road map will be signed for the two countries’ industrial projects. “The road map is currently at the final stage. It contains more than 70 projects between Russia and Iran.”

Novak also said that by the end of the year there may be a decision on a free trade zone. Relations between Russia and Iran "have reached a new unprecedented level,” according to Novak. Trade has risen 70 percent since 2015 and cooperation between Russian and Iranian entrepreneurs is on the rise, he added.

Moscow and Tehran have also agreed to continue cooperation in the banking sector, with the central banks meeting in August.

Russia’s oil major Rosneft and Venezuela’s state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) have signed a number of agreements extending their strategic cooperation, including plans on oil and petroleum products trading.

The two firms’ cooperation may have a powerful effect on balancing the global oil market, according to Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.

They have also discussed possible cooperation to develop Venezuela's electricity generation. These include building power plants running on petroleum, gas, coal and hydroelectricity.

“This will replace the existing power plants running on diesel fuel and direct the released volume of oil products to the market,” a Rosneft statement said.

Rosneft is currently working on five offshore drilling projects jointly with PDVSA.

The companies have agreed to start reciprocal deliveries of oil and petroleum products this year. A deal to establish a joint enterprise supplying natural gas was reached as well.

“This will allow Rosneft to boost its presence in the global oil and oil product market,” the company said, adding that the new agreements will provide PDVSA with extra international outlets to sell its hydrocarbons.

The heads of the corporations have signed an agreement allowing Venezuelans to attend Russian universities.

All the contracts are worth $20 billion to the Venezuelan economy, according to the Venezuelan Oil Minister and president of PDVSA, Eulogio del Pino.

Venezuela is looking for foreign investment to meet its ambitious oil production goals and curb its dire economic crisis. The country’s economy continues to deteriorate with consumer prices surging 700 percent and GDP set to decline by 10 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.